This application claims priority to European Application 01310947.5, filed Dec. 28, 2001, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic projection apparatus and device manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term “patterning device” as here employed should be broadly interpreted as referring to device that can be used to endow an incoming radiation beam with a patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be created in a target portion of the substrate. The term “light valve” can also be used in this context. Generally, the pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated circuit or other device (see below). An example of such a patterning device is a mask. The concept of a mask is well known in lithography, and it includes mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a transmissive mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask) of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on the mask. In the case of a mask, the support will generally be a mask table, which ensures that the mask can be held at a desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be moved relative to the beam if so desired.
Another example of a patterning device is a programmable mirror array. One example of such an array is a matrix-addressable surface having a viscoelastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that, for example, addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as undiffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the undiffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind. In this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable surface. An alternative embodiment of a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of tiny mirrors, each of which can be individually tilted about an axis by applying a suitable localized electric field, or by employing piezoelectric actuators. Once again, the mirrors are matrix-addressable, such that addressed mirrors will reflect an incoming radiation beam in a different direction to unaddressed mirrors. In this manner, the reflected beam is patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-addressable mirrors. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronics. In both of the situations described hereabove, the patterning device can comprise one or more programmable mirror arrays. More information on mirror arrays as here referred to can be seen, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,891 and 5,523,193, and PCT publications WO 98/38597 and WO 98/33096. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the support may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
Another example of a patterning device is a programmable LCD array. An example of such a construction is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872. As above, the support in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving a mask and mask table. However, the general principles discussed in such instances should be seen in the broader context of the patterning device as hereabove set forth.
Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (IC's). In such a case, the patterning device may generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In current apparatus, employing patterning by a mask on a mask table, a distinction can be made between two different types of machine. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion at once. Such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper. In an alternative apparatus, commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the “scanning” direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction. Since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally <1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as here described can be seen, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792.
In a known manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus, a pattern (e.g. In a mask) is imaged onto a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallization, oxidation, chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. It is important to ensure that the overlay juxtaposition) of the various stacked layers is as accurate as possible. For this purpose, a small reference mark is provided at one or more positions on the wafer, thus defining the origin of a coordinate system on the wafer. Using optical and electronic devices in combination with the substrate holder positioning device (referred to hereinafter as “alignment system”), this mark can then be relocated each time a new layer has to be juxtaposed on an existing layer, and can be used as an alignment reference. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book “Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing”, Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4.
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the “lens.” However, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection system, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example. The radiation system may also include components operating according to any of these design types for directing, shaping or controlling the beam of radiation, and such components may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a “lens”. Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such “multiple stage” devices the additional tables may be used in parallel or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Dual stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,969,441 and 6,262,796.
In a lithographic apparatus the size of features that can be imaged onto the substrate is limited by the wavelength of the projection radiation. To produce integrated circuits with a higher density of devices, and hence higher operating speeds, it is desirable to be able to image smaller features. While most current lithographic projection apparatus employ ultraviolet light generated by mercury lamps or excimer lasers, it has been proposed to use shorter wavelength radiation of around 13 nm. Such radiation is termed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) or soft x-ray and possible sources include, for instance, laser-produced plasma sources, discharge plasma sources, or synchrotron radiation from electron storage rings.
In a typical discharge plasma source, a plasma is formed by an electrical discharge. The plasma may then be caused to compress so that it becomes highly ionized and reaches a very high temperature, causing the emission of EUV radiation. The material used to produce the EUV radiation is typically xenon or lithium vapor, although other gases such as krypton or tin or water vapor may also be used. However, these gases may have a relatively high absorption of radiation within the EUV range or be damaging to optics further downstream of the projection beam and their presence must therefore be minimized in the remainder of the lithographic apparatus. A discharge plasma source is disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,023,897 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,795.
In a laser-produced plasma source a jet of, for instance, clustered xenon may be ejected from a nozzle. At some distance from the nozzle, the jet is irradiated with a laser pulse of a suitable wavelength for creating a plasma that subsequently will irradiate EUV radiation. Other materials, such as water droplets, ice particles, lithium or tin vapor, etc. may also be ejected from a nozzle and be used for EUV generation. In an alternative laser-produced plasma source an extended solid or liquid material is irradiated to create a plasma for EUV radiation. Laser-produced plasma sources are, for instance, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,459,771, 4,872,189 and 5,577,092.
A common feature of the above sources is that their operation induces a background pressure of some source gas or gases (also including vapors) in or near the source region. Source gasses comprise those gasses or vapors of which a plasma is to be created for EUV generation, but also gases or vapors produced during source operation by, for instance, laser irradiation of a solid or liquid material. The source gases should be confined to the source region since they may be a cause of substantial absorption of EUV radiation or be a cause of contamination and damage in the remainder of the lithographic apparatus.
Systems employing projection radiation having a higher wavelength than EUV radiation typically separate gases present in the source from the remainder of the system using transparent windows. These windows block the movement of the gases from the source but allow the projection beam to pass through. However, no material has yet been proposed which is sufficiently transparent to EUV radiation to allow the use of transparent windows with EUV projection beams. An alternative system, which has been used to contain gases within the source area of an EUV apparatus, is an argon counterflow. An example of this type of system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,897. In apparatus of this type, argon is pumped into the source in a direction which is counter to the direction of the radiation beam. This system attempts to drive the gases in the source away from the evacuated parts of the lithographic apparatus. However, this system may generate turbulence within the source, which causes problems to the operation of the apparatus. Further, the contamination of the gas present in the source by argon can be problematic. Xenon, a typical gas for use in a plasma source, is expensive and is therefore preferably recycled. However, it is difficult to regenerate xenon from a mixture of gases. Xenon's contamination with argon in such a counterflow device therefore significantly adds to the cost of the recycling step.